Tagged 'digital best practices'

Things go in cycles. We all know that – from the dredging up of retro fashions, the inheritance of music, to the rapid cyclical nature of business; in particular online business. Everything seems to follow the same path.
As all tech believers know, when man invented the web: Saviour of the Geeks, Creator of Unnecessary Job Titles and Deliverer of LOLCats, like the Garden of Eden, at first things went jolly well – we all lived in peace, harmony and believed in universal access, freedom of information, net neutrality, and that when given the choice of publicising the bare truth on Wikipedia, we (from celebrities and companies to politicians and lobbying groups) of course would not seek to alter that... oh yes. Of course, our lovely new Netopia began to change to reflect the true realities of our world – i.e. capitalism.
Yet, even so – the level of change from open platforms, open source, open access mentality of the early days to the competitive, closed, fixed business model trend we now see, surprises me. When AOL (or America Online as it was then) first presented the world with the idea of a digital gated community – it was a unique step.... Read more

Enacting a hassle-free, airtight insurance policy plan for a better Digital Marketing ROI requires deeper excavation into consumer Internet behaviors beyond just their interests with your brand.
Specifically, examining Digital touchpoint behavior to understand how consumers already use the Internet on a daily basis provides grave insight.
To test if this is a policy that will be useful to you, take the small challenge below. When thinking about the Digital initiatives you already launched into market, can you answer the following questions about the target you are trying to reach?

For what type(s) of passions is your target audience utilizing the broader Internet?
What type(s) of websites are visited by the target? What amount of time is spent online for personal reasons?
What is the reason for interaction with each touchpoint (websites, branded fan pages, mobile sites, brand blogs, etc.)?
Which type(s) of Social Media activities does the target audience engage in, if any?
When are they most open to receiving branded/category information?

Without analyzing these types of behaviors before building out online experiences, how can one conclude that a Digital initiative will receive optimal impressions, have the capability to go viral, and/or persuade consumers to purchase? Circling back to our Digital marketing challenges, these uninformed... Read more

As with buying any insurance policy, it is necessary to first look at the policy from an overarching point-of-view (i.e. buying a combo policy: auto, home owners/renters, life, etc.) before diving into details about individual coverage. The same principle can be applied within digital, as it is important to first inspect the entire digital marketing universe (website, fan page, email) at the macro level before discovering how they all fit together: this is the ultimate focus of this post for Policy #1.
It is key to look at the digital medium as a whole, but while doing so also explore the space through the mind of a consumer. Investigating how each touchpoint is used by consumers will identify the market activity strength for each touchpoint to then map touchpoint performance within four critical dimensions:
• Web equity: Which touchpoint is most trustworthy?
• Pre-purchase research: Which touchpoint is relied on for product research?
• Post-purchase support: Where do consumers go for customer service support?
• Relationship building: Which platform is best suited to maintain the interest in ongoing brand communications?
Only through this process does the role of each touchpoint become clear, taking into account how the consumer is interacting with and conceptualizing each one. From there,... Read more

We are all familiar with the concept of insurance to protect our own personal assets, but it is important to remember that a similar principle can also be applied to our role as Digital Marketing professionals. The upcoming series of blog posts address this very topic, providing policies that will help underwrite improved returns moving forward.
Buying into an insurance policy for better digital marketing ROI is unheard of without taking a proper precautionary principle, which in this case is done through several phases of measurement. Despite the fact that digital marketing is the most measurable medium, moving towards a better digital marketing ROI is not easy. Digital datasets are so vast and yet digital analytic resources are so minute that forward growth is slow-moving. When speaking with multiple organizations about their top digital marketing challenges, since the turn of the decade consistent themes have arisen:
1.) Budget allocation, fighting against traditional spending
2.) Accountability, proving digital marketing works
3.) Low confidence in digital marketing
Naturally, there are both internal and external factors feeding into these challenges. Externally, digital marketing initiatives are struggling to reach consumer eyeballs as there are many many platforms one can interact with (not... Read more

Thank you for choosing to spend time with my blog. While I am excited you arrived in the 'here and now', I am more interested in the way you depart.
Within this content, I plan to bring you best practices, case studies and Digital perspective all derived from answering clients’ business questions. Through sharing, I hope to inspire, guide and propel your Digital compass beyond where you were upon arriving at the blogosphere (hopefully pondering about your own Digital who’s, what’s and why’s).
Lastly, it would also be great to hear your thoughts about my thoughts. Cheers!
Kimberly